This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 11/317,535 titled, “VEHICLE POWER SYSTEM WITH INTEGRATED GRAPHICS DISPLAY,” which was filed on even date herewith; and inventors Alberto A. Lopez, John Catalano and Nathan Wincek. Additionally, this application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 11/317,539 titled, “VEHICLE POWER SYSTEM WITH WIRE SIZE ADAPTER,” which was filed on even date herewith; and inventors Alberto A. Lopez, John Catalano and Nathan Wincek. Additionally, this application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 11/317,699 titled, “VEHICLE POWER SYSTEM UTILIZING OVAL WIRE,” which was filed on even date herewith; and inventors Alberto A. Lopez, John Catalano and Nathan Wincek.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of conditioning or distributing power and more particularly to an apparatus that provides a power conditioning, distribution and/or fusing in one integrated device that is configurable to allow input wires to enter on either side and output wires to exit on the opposite side.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automotive accessories are becoming more functional and decorative. High power audio amplifiers, lighting systems, automation systems and even waterfalls have been installed in vehicle doors, passenger compartments and trunks. These devices utilize large amounts of power and put significant loads on the vehicle's power distribution systems. The art has many examples of vehicle power distribution, including U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,279, “Power Distribution System,” to Lopez, which is hereby incorporated by reference. This patent describes a power distribution and fusing system that accepts one or two larger power wires, fuses the power and distributes the power over several smaller gauge wires.
Additionally, there is a need for lighting and display. U.S. Pat. No. 6,181,563, “Meter Device for Vehicle,” to Shimbu, et al, describes a vehicle metering and display device and is hereby incorporated by reference. This device has a display for displaying vehicle speed and engine speed, for example. The display is mounted in the passenger compartment and visible to the driver. The device of this patent does not distribute power to other devices. Furthermore, the display is provided for displaying information according to signals from the electronic component units integrated into the device and not enabled to accept external, fully-graphical video sources.
Historically, power has been distributed by a single power cable carrying one voltage potential, usually positive, and the frame of the vehicle carrying the other voltage potential, usually negative. The power cables of the prior art are generally heavy gauge, stranded wire of a size suitable for carrying the current required by the load. Standard wire comes in sizes that are numbered based upon its diameter and hence current carrying capacity with the higher numbers used for smaller wire having lower current carrying capacity. For heavy loads, a larger wire size is used. Unfortunately, as more current is required, the wire diameter increases requiring higher-profile connecting devices, causing difficulty in bending and shaping the wire and, when run under carpet, creating bumps and bulges. Oval shape wire has been used in very narrow applications for delivering high-voltage power in the AC power grid. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,942 to Wilber F. Powers, issued Dec. 12, 1992, describes a specialized oval wire for overhead high tension lines and is hereby incorporated by reference. This patent describes a very special type of oval power line and does not imply any other use for such oval cable. In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,353,177 B1 to Walter W. Young, issued Mar. 5, 2002 describes a cable of oval form, but the core conductor is round and the insulator is oval. This type of power cable has all the issues related to a round cable described above with no advantage for automotive use. The oval design of its insulation improves its wind resistance which is not an issue in automotive applications.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of power conditioning, fusing, and/or distribution devices that have power inputs/outputs that can be swapped to allow the inputs to be on one side or the other.
What is needed is an apparatus that will provide a power circuit that permits configuration of power input on a first side or on the opposite side and optionally provide a graphics display.